Resources — Documents and Online Resources
Advocacy
General Information
Cleaning
Community Network
Forms
Games
Health Care Professionals
Advocacy
Asthma and Indoor Air Quality in Schools
This resource on indoor air quality in schools is part of an Asthma Briefing Kit focused created by Regional Asthma Management and Prevention.
Green Cleaning in Schools: A Guide for Advocates
This guide provides information and strategic guidance on how parents, students, and other advocates can work with their school district and others to improve indoor air quality by switching to certified green cleaning products.
General Information
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Asthma Website
Comprehensive authoritative information and resources organized in six sections including Learn How to Control Asthma; CDC’s National Asthma Control Program; Evaluation; Resources for Health Professionals and Schools; Data, Statistics and Surveillance; and Agencies Working on Asthma.
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America Website
Extensive information on allergic and non-allergic asthma and its causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
How to Use Inhalers
This document shows the correct way to use and clean an asthma inhaler and spacer.
Asthma Basics Learning Module
This free, interactive, 50-minute online learning module from the American Lung Association teaches the basics of asthma and asthma management.
Asthma Basics for Kids, Teens, and Parents
This resource from Kids Health by Nemours for parents, kids and teens, provides extensive information about asthma and creating asthma-safe environments, plus links to additional resources.
The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program
This Program of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute raises awareness about asthma as a major public health problem, develops clinical practice guidelines and other supportive materials based on the latest scientific evidence, and uses multiple strategies to enhance.
Asthma Education in 15! Presentation and Handout
This PowerPoint presentation from Regional Asthma Management and Prevention, is designed to be delivered to any school staff (teachers, administrators, front office staff, janitorial staff, etc.) in just 15 minutes. The PowerPoint and handout contain information on asthma emergencies and management.
Asthma Resource List
This website developed by the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved contains information on topics including federal resources, clinical guidelines, policy briefs, asthma reports, clinical education and training, spirometry, clinical tool kits, asthma action plans, mobile technology and asthma, patient education and self-management, multimedia, partners and programs.
Asthma Tip Sheets — Inhalers
This information from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program includes information on the proper use of metered dose inhalers, dry powder inhalers, nebulizers, peak flow meters, dry powder inhaler (Diskus, Flexhaler, Twisthaler) plus information on controlling asthma triggers.
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Website
Comprehensive authoritative information and resources about asthma and how to diagnose, treat, and manage it.
Cleaning
Healthy Cleaning and Asthma—Safer Schools: A How-To Guide
The resource, developed by the Work-Related Asthma Prevention Program in the California Department of Public Health, will help school districts’ facilities, maintenance, and operations managers or supervisors transition to asthma-safer products and practices.
Cleaning Fact Sheet for Employers
Information on the link between cleaning products and asthma.
Work-related Asthma Fact Sheet: What You Should Know
Information on asthma in the workplace.
Breathing Easier — School Districts Make the Switch to Certified Green Cleaning Products
This case study from Regional Asthma Management and Prevention, highlights three California school districts that are making the switch to certified green cleaning products.
Green Seal Website
The Green Seal certification means that the products listed have been evaluated and have fulfilled a rigorous set of requirements designed to reduce the product’s harmful impact on the health of people and the environment.
UL Ecologo Website
ECOLOGO Certified products, services and packaging are certified for reduced environmental impact.
US EPA Design for the Environment Website
This resource helps consumers, businesses, and purchasers find pesticide products that perform well and are safer for human health and the environment.
A Companion video for the How-To Guide on Asthma-Safer Cleaning
This video is a companion piece to Healthy Cleaning & Asthma-Safer Schools: A How-To Guide, produced by the Work-Related Asthma Prevention Program of the California Department of Public Health.
Cleaning Product Recipes
Inexpensive asthma-safer cleaning products that easily be made at home from common, available ingredients.
Community Network
Asthma Community Network
This online Network is designed for community-based asthma programs and organizations that sponsor them—including representatives of health plans and providers, government health and environmental agencies, nonprofits, coalitions, schools and more. The Network is supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in partnership with Allies Against Asthma, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. (MCAN), a nonprofit organization funded by the Merck Company Foundation.
Forms
Asthma Action Plan
Every student with asthma should have a completed asthma action plan on file at his or her school. The Plan must be updated each school year.
Medication Authorization Form
When completed, this form authorizes school staff to administer asthma quick-relief medication to students during an asthma attack.
Games
Just for Kids
This resource from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology has games, puzzles, videos and more to help young people learn about managing allergies and asthma.
Lungtropolis™: Where Kids with Asthma Learn to Play
This web-based game for children between the ages of 5 to 10 and their parents provides information and resources on asthma.
CDC Asthma Resources for Kids
These resources from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention include fun facts, games and learning activities that are easy to do at home or in the classroom, whether you are a child, childcare provider, parent, or teacher.
guidelines implementation.
Lung Defender
A game for children on lung health from PBS Kids.
Sesame Street — A is for Asthma
Sesame Street Workshop developed the project to help children with asthma lead fun and active lives. The resources are geared toward both children and adults, showing children with asthma what to do when they have trouble breathing, and explaining to the adults in their lives what they can do to help. The materials encourage parents and caregivers to work with their child and their doctor in ensuring that their child maintains an active lifestyle.
Wee Breathers™
A program from the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America designed to help health professionals who educate parents of children under age 7 learn to manage asthma. This flexible curriculum was created for educating parents one-on-one during a home visit or with a group of parents from the same child care center. Program materials include 7 one-hour lessons on key asthma management topics, an asthma trigger checklist for the home, an asthma trigger checklist for a child care center, and an instructor’s guide.
Health Care Professionals
The Expert Panel 3 Guidelines on Asthma
These are the authoritative clinical guidelines on the diagnosis and management of asthma, developed by an expert panel commissioned by the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Coordinating Committee (CC), coordinated by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
Management of Students with an Asthma Action Plan
This document provides instructions on responding to an asthma attack at school when a school nurse is not available and the student does not have an asthma action plan on file.
Management of Students without an Asthma Action Plan
This document from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program instructs school nurses on the proper way to respond when an asthma attack occurs at school and the student does not have an asthma action plan on file.
Asthma Care Quick Reference — Diagnosing and Managing Asthma
These guidelines from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program help clinicians diagnose and provide quality care to people who have asthma.
Home
Indoor Asthma Triggers at Home: Parent Checklist
This brief document helps parents identify and reduce or eliminate asthma triggers at home.
How to Reduce or Eliminate Asthma Triggers at Home
This comprehensive document that helps parents to identify and reduce or eliminate asthma triggers at home.
Household Cleaning and Asthma
This factsheet provides recipes for asthma-safer cleaners made from common household ingredients.
Tenant Rights and Responsibilities
This factsheet outlines tenants rights and responsibilities and provides information on how to work with your landlord to make your home asthma-safer.
Laws
Overview of California Schools Asthma Medication Law
This document explains the circumstances under which students to carry and use their asthma inhalers at school.
California Anti-Idling Regulation
Text of the law.
Tenant Rights and Responsibilities
Information about tenant and landlord legal rights and responsibilities, and how to tenants can communicate effectively with landlords.
Posters
First Aid for Asthma Poster
This poster provides basic information on the correct way to respond to a child who is having an asthma attack.
Classroom Indoor Air Quality Poster
This poster provides suggestions on how to reduce asthma triggers in classrooms.
Common Asthma Triggers Poster
This poster provides information on how to reduce the impact of various asthma triggers.
Schools
Teacher's Classroom Checklist
This checklist helps school staff to identify asthma triggers in the classroom and improve environmental quality at school.
Asthma-Friendly Schools Initiative Toolkit
This resource from the American Lung Association divided into five sections that align with the CDC’s Coordinated School Health Model, including Master Planning, Maximizing School Health Services, Building Asthma Education, Providing a Healthy School Environment, and Managing Physical Education and Activity. Each section includes a set of specific strategies, along with sample tools and resources that can be used to put the strategies into action.
Back to School With Asthma Toolkit
This resource from the American Lung Association helps parents of students with asthma and school nurses prepare for the school year and create an asthma-safe environment.
Creating Healthy Indoor Environments in Schools
Extensive online information and resources, created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on indoor environmental quality at school. The information is specifically designed for School Officials, Facilities Staff Members, Teachers, Health Care Professionals, and Parents and Students.
IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit
The Action Kit, created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, provides best practices, industry guidelines, sample policies and a sample IAQ management plan to improve school air at little or no cost.
Managing Asthma — A Guide for Schools
This guide from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program is intended to assist schools that are planning and/or maintaining an asthma management program. It provides follow-up steps for schools that currently identify students with asthma through health forms or emergency cards or plan to do so. It is designed to offer practical information to school staff.
Classroom or Large Space Activities (K-6)
This factsheet provides suggestions for indoor activities appropriate for grades K-6 for keeping kids active when outdoor air quality is poor or during inclement weather.
Classroom or Large Space Activities (6-8)
This factsheet provides suggestions for indoor activities appropriate for grades 6-8 for keeping kids active when outdoor air quality is poor or during inclement weather.
US EPA Indoor Air Quality Problem-Solving Tool
This resource provides an easy, step-by-step process to start identifying and resolving IAQ problems found at your school.
US EPA Cleaning and Maintenance Solutions
This resource provides effective cleaning and maintenance procedures to help protect building systems and building occupants.
Webinars and Bulletins
Indoor Air Quality Master Class Webinar Series
This webinar series from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency discusses key topics of interest to those in the school community interested in indoor air quality. Each listing includes the presentations used, supplemental materials distributed, and summaries of each event.
Electronic Bulletins and Updates
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regularly distributes bulletins on topics relevant to IAQ in schools. The bulletins are generally distributed electronically via email.
Outdoor Air Quality
Air Quality Index Table
The index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you.
